General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The United States Is Awash in Public Stupidity, and Critical Thought Is Under Assault [View all]XemaSab
(60,212 posts)I spend about an hour a day reading the news online. I spend another hour or so a day engaging with people on DU and FB about current events. If I get curious about something, *BAM* Google is right there.
The internet has allowed me to make friends, make "enemies" , learn about obscure topics such as arctic sea ice, know what's going on in the farthest corners of the world....
I'm old enough to remember the day when if you wanted to know what percent of San Francisco was Asian, or what the different names of the kings of England and Britain were, or what the Bahais believe, or how shade tolerant ornamental oregano is, you had to get yourself down to the library and look that action up, and it would take hours. *IF* the library had a book about what you wanted to know.
I get the sense, though, that most people use the internet for pron, shopping, celebrity gossip, and pirating "Jackass III."
Maybe people were dumbasses before the internet, but we were all shielded from how stupid so many people are.